Education Advocates Unite to Fund $250,000 Professorship Benefiting Future Teachers

Oklahoma State University announced today $250,000 received from 15 donors to create a college student development professorship at OSU.  Once fully matched dollar-for-dollar by T. Boone Pickens’ $100 million chair match commitment, as well as the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the gift will have the impact of more than $1.6 million in endowed funds.

Donors to the fund include Katy, Texas resident Steve Farris; Bill and Karen Anderson of Holdenville, Okla.; Jim and Ann Halligan of Stillwater, Okla.; Randall and Carol White of Tulsa; Bryan Close of Tulsa; Judy Cox Graham of Houston; John Clerico of Tulsa; Cathey Jameson of Davis, Okla.; Dr. L.M. and Peggy Sullivan of Edmond, Okla.; and John and Pam McDougal of Edmond, Okla.

The College Student Development degree option prepares graduates to work with college students in many ways such as helping transition from high school to the college campus, helping adjust to residence life, working with student organizations, responding to campus crises, providing academic advising, leadership training, career placement, judicial affairs, and other student activities.

The College Student Development Professorship will be housed within OSU’s College of Education.  Efforts from the pooled donor group sought to establish the professorship in the hopes that is would attract the very best faculty and students to OSU while strengthening fund programs within the college. 

“The response from our alumni and friends has exceeded our wildest expectations,” said OSU President Burns Hargis.  “Inspired by Boone Pickens’ astounding generosity, donors answered the call to make a lasting difference and open a new and exciting chapter at OSU.  We sincerely appreciate the combined efforts of these passionate education advocates to bring this professorship to fruition for the benefit of future students and faculty within the college of education.” 

In order to take full advantage of the state’s dollar-for-dollar match, and make the most significant impact on OSU academics, donors made their gifts prior to the July 1 change in the state’s endowed chair matching program.  This gift is part of the $66.8 million in endowed faculty gifts OSU announced recently.  

“We made our gift to this fund in order to assist OSU in hiring and retaining of highly educated and qualified professors who bring something new and informative to their area of expertise and who have the desire to keep learning and teaching,” said Farris.  “I’d like to see the U.S. to stay competitive in what has become a global environment by providing excellence in education for our youth.”

Jean Van Delinder, chair of the OSU Faculty Council, said, “OSU is poised for growth and further prominence but to realize its full potential we must continue to attract and retain top scholars and researchers. These chairs highlight the important role that scholarship and teaching play at Oklahoma State University, and they are made possible through the generous support of donors who value excellence in scholarship and want to help OSU continue to nurture a strong faculty.”

Endowed professorships and chairs are academic designations which provide support for faculty salary, graduate assistantships, equipment and research needs, as well as other support.  These endowed faculty positions allow a university to attract and retain the best and the brightest academic minds in the world.

Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach.  OSU has more than 32,000 students across its system and nearly 21,000 on its Stillwater campus; with students from all 50 states and around 110 nations.  Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world.  

The Oklahoma State University Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence

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